


A Parliament of Owls

by Jade_Dragoness



Series: Fate Can't Be Denied [1]
Category: DCU
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Community: trope_bingo, Gen, Trope Bingo Amnesty, Trope Bingo Round 4, Young Bruce Wayne
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-01
Updated: 2015-07-01
Packaged: 2018-04-07 02:50:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4246629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jade_Dragoness/pseuds/Jade_Dragoness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hogwarts Fusion – Bruce Wayne doesn't want to go to Hogwarts. The owls don't exactly take no for an answer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Parliament of Owls

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Trope_bingo round 4 – prompt 9 Fusion

“Clack-click-clack”

Bruce frowned as he looked up from the chemistry textbook in his hands. He was sitting on the thick Persian rug of the Wayne Manor's smaller libraries when he heard another impatient clack-click-clack tapping away at one of the windows of the library. Bruce stood up, absently kicking the notebook he was filling notes.

He stilled in surprise when he saw a great horned owl clinging to the windowsill. Bruce frowned at it, trying to figure out what the owl was doing when it tapped at the window again. It stared at him with piercing determination before hooting impatiently when Bruce didn't move. 

Cautiously, Bruce got closer while remaining alert to any possible action. Owls don't normally act like this, Bruce knew this was true even without having conducted an in-depth study on the behavior of the local Strigidae. When Bruce was less than a foot away from the glass the owl hooted again and raised one leg, flapping it's wings for balance. 

That's when Bruce saw the rolled up scroll tied to its leg in blue and gold ribbon. And he knew at once what it was for. After all, today was his eleventh birthday.

He froze but only for a moment. 

“No!” he shouted, grabbing the curtains and pulling them closed, blocking the owl from sight. He ran quickly around the library, closing every curtain, pulling down every shade. Bruce turned his back on the windows, ignoring the angry hooting, and louder click-clack of a beak on glass. The boy picked up his chemistry book, sits back down on the rug and gets back to his studies. 

He had a plan for his life. It didn't involve Hogwarts.

*-*-*-*

“Master Bruce,” Alfred says patiently, standing beside Bruce's bed. “I think this has gone on long enough.”

The clack-click-clack of several beaks tapping away on window panes was nearly harmonic, Alfred thought caustically. If one was tone deaf.

Master Bruce had developed deep shadows under his eyes after the third night of trying to ignore that cacophony. Considering the years of care it had taken for the boy to get more than a couple of hours of sleep after the death of his parents, seeing those shadow return was intolerable. Alfred wasn't going to stand for him missing any more sleep out of his own willfulness.

“I'm not going to Hogwarts, Alfred,” Bruce said, scowling at the duvet of his bed.

Alfred held in a sigh, and instead sat on the corner of the bed. “Master Bruce, I know studying at Hogwarts is not part of your plan for the future but... it _is_ a legacy passed down to your from your mother.”

Bruce said coolly, “My mother was hardly regarded with respect by the wizard community.”

Alfred didn't argue, after all he know the story well. Being a member of the Kane family and being its only squib in several generations had left Martha Kane an isolated young woman among the wizard community and her own family. But attending Hogwarts had also left her with knowledge which had been invaluable to her while living in Gotham, easily one of the most magically turbulent cities in the world. The chance to gain the same knowledge of magic and the wizardly side of the world was not one that Bruce could easily dismiss. Even if Alfred wondered at times if Bruce's ability for using magic was similar to his mother's and potentially leading to him facing the same scorn. Master Bruce had not so much as made a toy float, much less expressed any other of the signs that supposedly those with wizardly talent were supposed to show by the age of eleven.

Still, the Hogwarts acceptance letter had arrived at the Wayne manor, even if it had yet to be received by its intended recipient. 

“Regardless, as a member of the Kane family you have an automatic acceptance into Hogwarts. Which, I remind you, Master Bruce, is not easy to accomplish even after all these decades since the wizard community ended their policy of secrecy. There are many around the world who seek admittance and only select openings are available to those without a certain level of ability or bloodlines.” Something which had been a point of contention in the decades following the reveal of a hidden magical community during World War II, but one that the wizards and witches had upheld. 

Bruce didn't look impressed by this line of reasoning, which didn't surprise Alfred one whit. If there was ever a boy in the running for the title of the most stubborn person to ever live, then Master Bruce would easily be a contender. Alfred quietly dreaded his upcoming teenage years, but was determined to see that Master Bruce survived them.

“Regardless of that... I do believe that your mother would have been proud to see her son attend her alma mater.”

Bruce's shoulders stiffened, and for a breathless eternity, Alfred watched his words sink in. Bruce looked away toward the nearest window, hidden behind a thick curtain. The dark clouds that had been gathered at Bruce's eyes faded away, leaving him looking contemplative. 

Alfred waited patiently and in the quiet of Bruce's thoughts, the click-clack on glass was even louder.

“She did mention it a couple of times... that I would love going to Hogwarts,” Bruce admitted slowly. 

“Well there's your answer then. Now, would you let me in one of those silly owls before they knock their beaks in?” Alfred asked lightly. 

Bruce was quiet for another long moment, but finally he said, “Alright.”

Alfred nodded, stood from the bed and walked over to the nearest window to let in an owl. 

Several owls took the opportunity of the open casement to wing in to the room before Alfred was able to firmly close the window again, keeping out the rest.

He huffed at the owls as the alighted all around the bedroom. “We hardly need the entire parliament in here to deliver one letter,” Alfred scolded them.

All the owls hooted in irritation, shooting Alfred dirty looks. One of the owls made fly to Bruce and was instantly snapped at by the others. At once, a scuffle broke out among the birds until the smallest owl, barely six inches tall, slipped out of the dust-up.

The small owl landed on the bedpost and stuck out the leg with the letter attached to it.

“Northern saw-whet owl,” Bruce murmured as he eyed the owl. Surprisingly, the owl looked pleased at the recognition, gently nipping at Bruce's fingers as the boy pulled the letter off the bird's leg.

Bruce stared at the letter for a long moment, during which Alfred shooed the owls out of the room, until he finally opened it. He read it and passed it to Alfred, who read it quickly.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Kent Nelson  
(Wearer of the Helmet of Fate, Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chf. Warlock, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr. Wayne,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. 

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July. 

Yours sincerely,  
Sindella Zatara  
Deputy Headmistress 

Alfred glanced over the list of required items and calculated how quickly he could acquire everything, except... the wand would require Master Bruce's participation. 

“Well, Master Bruce, it looks like we have shopping in our future.”

End


End file.
